The Legacy of the Games
by toSempiternity
Summary: Recipe: Take two troublesome demigods, a Capture the Flag game, mix Zeus's Fist with a mockingjay mark, and bingo! Instant time travel to the 73rd Hunger Games! And may the odds be ever in your favor! But when you have Thalia and Percy in the mix...uh-oh.
1. Chapter One

Chapter One**  
>Thalia<strong>

When in doubt, run away from Zeus's Fist in Camp Half-Blood's woods. It has a reputation for attracting trouble—first, when the innocent pile of rocks was hiding an exit from the Labyrinth, which, needless to say, almost demolished the camp, and now, sending me and Percy into the future.

The day started out simply enough: me arriving at camp with the Hunters for a visit. Of course, it would mean another boring Capture the Flag game against Camp Half-Blood (they always lose; Romans are slightly more entertaining to play with in Capture the Flag), but it was worth it. I was eager to see Annabeth and Jason anyways, as Jason was taking a well-earned break from _Castra Romana_, a.k.a. the Roman camp.

I ditched the other Hunters as soon as we got within twenty yards of my pine tree—to, well, see my pine tree. And because a figure that looked suspiciously like they had blond hair tied up in a ponytail was there. Of course, I could be wrong about the person's identity, but still. I wanted to see Peleus, anyways.

I always do that when the Hunters visit camp, so Artemis is used to it. She doesn't bother calling for me to come back. I never listen.

I silently crept up to Annabeth (whom I have identified when I got closer) and tapped her shoulder. "Fancy meeting me?"

Annabeth screamed and jumped about ten feet into the air. I doubled over with laughter as she gathered her wits and glared at me. "Can you greet me in a more _subtle_ way next time? You scared the lights out of me."

"It _was_ subtle," I protested. "I just said, 'Fancy meeting you?' and tapped you on the shoulder. Can you get more subtle than that?"

"Yes," Annabeth said.

"Like…?" I trailed off.

"I don't know," Annabeth admitted, "but can you be less surprising."

Jason, who had apparently been hiding behind Peleus the sleeping dragon all the time, yelled something that I cannot repeat in Annabeth's ear. But needless to say, Annabeth got a second scare. And this time, she bought half of the camp and the rest of the Hunters running. I really couldn't remember the last time Annabeth was that jumpy, so there must be something serious going on at camp, which I only found out later that I would... um, never find out.

Fuming, with her face cherry-red, she started yelling at the top of her lungs at Jason and me. We were rolling ourselves grass-green on the hill.

Annabeth abruptly muttered under her breath, "Like sister, like brother," and then proceeded to shout again.

"If I were you," Percy smiled, having pushed his way to the front to survey his crimson-red girlfriend, "I would stop screaming before I lose my voice. What happened, anyways?"

"I just greeted her," Jason and I said at the same time.

Phoebe rolled her eyes at me and said in a teasing manner, "Yes, Thalia greeted her by tapping her on the shoulder without a warning and Jason just screamed something in Annabeth's ear. It's an extremely nice and awesome way to 'just greet somebody'."

I sighed. "Okay, whatever. Sorry, Annabeth."

"'S okay," she said, but she still looked a little disgruntled.

I kicked Jason in the shins.

"Oh. Right. Sorry," he said while wincing and rubbing his ankle. I looked away innocently when everybody looked suspiciously at me. "I'm really sorry that I screamed in your ear. Did I ruin your hearing?"

"Fortunately," she grumbled, "no. You know, I'd better get ready for Capture the Flag."

I was taken aback. "What, already?"

"Oh, yeah," Percy smirked. "We're going to beat you this time."

That very idea seemed so preposterous at the moment that it took me a moment to register what he said. Then, I snorted. "Oh, in your dreams, Jackson."

But I was about to find out that I would regret that statement later on.

Percy's eyes sparkled. "We'll see, Pinecone Face. We'll see."

"Shut up, and don't call me 'Pinecone Face', Seaweed Brain," I muttered under my breath, "or I'll knock you out for a week."

Then, I followed Artemis to the Artemis cabin.

* * *

><p>I was still muttering obscenities under my breath an hour later when we were getting ready for Capture the Flag. Surprisingly, no one had told me to lay off—usually, when Artemis finds out that I'm cursing for more than five minutes straight, she puts a stop to it really quick. But the really weird thing was I caught her staring at me worriedly when I was pretending that I was reading a book. That didn't happen once, not twice, not thrice, but four times.<p>

I didn't have time to understand why she did that, but sooner or later, I would find out. And if I was making a goddess nervous, that wasn't a good thing.

As soon as we (the Hunters) were out at the amphitheater, Chiron the centaur started drawling about all the rules of the game (oh, dang! I just Lost the Game! Now I'm sounding like Alex… shoot.): Camp Half-Blood takes the west woods, the Hunters the east, all magical items allowed, no maiming etc.

Needless to say, it was rather boring for somebody who has played Capture the Flag at least sixty times, but you can't have first-year campers here stabbing themselves with a sword.

As soon as the rules were finished, I saw Annabeth and Percy muttering amongst each other, and I got a feeling that they weren't talking about sappy romantic stuff.

I preferred to _not_ wear armor, unlike the other Hunters. Although it gave you an edge on defense, it wasn't the best for being speedy and agile. So usually, unless it's of dire importance, I steer clear of those bronze plates. The only thing I usually grabbed was—

Nothing.

Why? I was already well equipped. I had Aegis, my bow and arrow, my knives, and just for precaution, my old spear. I didn't exactly need anything else, did I?

We were in the woods without Artemis—she helps Chiron with healing the injured demigods. Being a goddess, it's obviously unfair if we have the same number of Hunters as campers and we had a goddess on our team.

"What a day," Serena grumbled. "First, we have to travel from a game of the Roman's version of Capture the Flag, and along the way, we get intercepted by—"

I gave her a look, effectively silencing her. I started to lay out our plan when Dawn raised her hand.

"Yes?" I asked uncertainly. When Dawn raises her hand, it's never a good thing—she's a daughter of the god of thieves, Hermes, so when she speaks up, it will probably bring an angry daughter of Aphrodite or a TV starlet running after us, screaming to give back their handbags, jewelry, bright vanilla-scented lipstick, whatnot. Occasionally, she would take something like a high-tech laptop, iPad, or exploding wind-up duckies (don't ask). I didn't even know why Dawn stole the things—putting on makeup was right after painting the Artemis cabin hot pink with crimson red hearts and Cupids on my to-do list. In other words, _never in a zillion years._

"Oh, don't wear that look on your face!" Dawn pouted. "It's not that I _stole_ anything…"

I waited.

"I found out where their flag was," she cheerfully said.

"But—" I began, but every single other Hunter cut me off.

"You _what_?" Brook gushed. "That's so awesome!"

"Um…" I said. Naturally, nobody had to hear what I had to say.

I let the meaningless banter continue for another minute, and then yelled, "Quiet!"

Talking immediately ceased. You could hear a pin drop from a mile away.

"All right," I said. "Not that that's a bad thing, Dawn, but… that's kind of against the rules. And second, you were basically stealing the location of the blue flag from either Percy or Annabeth's head."

My last statement bought some guffaws. "That's true," Phoebe chuckled. "But where is the flag?"

Before I could tell Dawn to shut up, she promptly said, "Zeus's Fist."

The conch horn blew.

"Oh, great," I muttered. "And you still don't know what the plan is. Ditch it, just defend the flag and I'll try to scale Zeus's Fist to grab their flag and run back here. Hopefully, you won't be able to mess it up."

I said the last part because Tammy had a tendency to step on sticks during Capture the Flag and give our position away.

And I wasn't sure if I would actually be able to scale Zeus's Fist—I was never a big fan of heights. Maybe that's why the campers put their flag there—to freak me out.

As soon as the rest of the Hunters were gone and I was alone, the tree right behind me shivered. I only had time to think that I really should get out of here before Jason leapt from the tree and hacked at me with his sword.

Thank the gods for reflexes. I ducked just as the gold blade whistled above my head. I groped for my spear—there was absolutely no way that I could just fight Jason with a bow and arrow or some knives.

I parried another blow just as Jason swiped at me again. After a few minutes of sparring, the underbrush exploded and four more warriors ran out. I was greatly outnumbered, and staying here to fight all of the five demigods would have been utterly idiotic and I would be running straight into the arms of suicide. So I did the only natural thing: I ran for it.

"Well," a voice that I identified as Annabeth's observed, "that did the trick."

I screeched to a halt. Obviously, Annabeth wanted me to run away so the Hunters would be without their lieutenant. Said too early, Wise Girl. I silently jogged back the way I came from and found out that Jason, Annabeth, Travis, Connor, and Clarisse were slipping away into the undergrowth. I steeled my nerves and scaled up a tree.

I refused to think about hovering thirty feet in the air. _Come on, Thalia,_ I thought, _you can do it. It's as simple as jumping from a stepping stone._

_Yeah, if I jump down from a stepping stone into the water, I'll break my back,_ my other side thought.

Of course, I was planning to jump from tree branch to tree branch. I crept to the edge of the branch and jumped.

For a scary moment, everything rushed by in a medley of colors. I was sure that I had miscalculated the jump and was going to end up as a grease spot on the birdbath (Camp Half-Blood had a birdbath?) when my feet silently hit the other branch. I grabbed the tree bark to prevent myself from falling.

Well, that wasn't too hard. After I had collected my breath, I jumped from tree to tree until I spotted the five demigods crouching behind the row of bushes that marked where our flag was. It was a wonder how the extremely slender branches didn't crack under me and send me rolling straight on top of one of the demigods.

Annabeth was giving her team one last pep talk. The second she had finished, I channeled four thin jets of electricity at Annabeth, the Stoll brothers, and Clarisse. They only had time to put their "surprised" look on their face when they collapsed on the ground, paralyzed. Jason was so staggered that he froze as if paralyzed himself. I took that moment to jump down from the tree and silently dispatch him.

"Sorry, little brother," I whispered. "But I can't afford to lose our winning streak."

Running away from the "battle" site, I knocked out two more demigods that were strolling near the creek where the boundary was.

I ran into a couple more skirmishes that I easily won until I reached the alleged site of Camp Half-Blood's flag.

I squinted at the top of the Fist, scanning the bare rocks for the dark blue flag. My eyes swept past a blue speck—wait, blue speck? How on earth did they put it that high? And wasn't the flag supposed to be in plain sight?

I placed my hand on one of the rocks, running it over the rough surface. I stopped, sweeping my hand on the surface of the rock again.

Zeus's Fist is known for its incapability for demigods to climb. The entire surface of the rocks is mirror smooth. It usually takes a few months at camp to even attempt to climb up the base of the rock. The only exception that I had ever seen was Percy, although Annabeth probably achieved it as well. And I've never really tried to climb it myself (wait, why am I telling you this? It's totally off topic).

At any rate, it should make climbing easier. But I never got the chance to, because Percy appeared out of nowhere and slashed with Riptide.

"What the—?" I yelped, and instinctively launched into defense mode.

"Did Jason give you a hard time?" Percy inquired, keeping me busy with his sword.

"On the contrary," I said through gritted teeth, "it took me five minutes to incapacitate all of them."

I dearly wanted to kick him away, but all I would get? A bruised foot. Curse the stupid Achilles' Curse. The part of my mind that was not concentrating on defending me against Percy thought if that was possible.

My best hope was that Percy would get tired eventually.

There was just the problem of surviving without any injuries.

Wait, didn't he vaguely tell me that he lost his Achilles' Curse after the experience at _Castra Romana_?

I accidentally jumped up onto the rocks. Fatal mistake. It's not that I slipped off or anything, but Percy instinctively jumped beside me and suddenly, my hand grazed against a strange figure etched into the stone: an image of a bird. In a bright blue flash, I yelped, grabbed onto Percy (hey, he was the nearest human being!) and we both plunged unwillingly into the swirling blue vortex.


	2. Chapter Two

Chapter Two**  
>Thalia<strong>

Really, there's nothing more humiliating than to land on your head in front of these maniacs that are working in a factory, producing at a furious rate of what seems to be these artificial precious gems. And just to enhance the embarrassment, Percy landed straight on top of my head, now holding on to me and screaming [Annabeth would have been proud, I know. Hero of Olympus, anyone? _(a.k.a. Percy, wake up!)_]. I hoped that he didn't crack anything, because I couldn't feel either of my hands or feet.

I made a muffled noise and my head popped up from under Percy. "Um... next time you land, can you land on someone that has _not_ sworn off boys?"

Percy got off of me, his cheeks starting to flame.

The factory workers stopped what they were doing and stared at us in stunned silence.

One of them got up, apparently surprised. She had on more jewels than I could count so that she looked like a walking sapphire mine. "Why aren't you at The Arena?"

That didn't sound so great. Percy asked, "The Coliseum?"

All of them blinked in confusion. "What is the 'Culisum'?"

These people were even worse at pronouncing words that they have never heard before than Tammy was (you know, the one who steps on sticks a lot?), which was saying a lot.

"Oh, you poor dears!" one of them squealed, clapping her hands to her rosy red cheeks. I had to try really hard to keep my face expressionless, because a livid look was probably trying to slink its way up onto my face. Poor dears?

"Quick, we've got to get you to The Arena! You're missing out on _valuable_ training time, and we don't want District One to break its winning streak, do we?"

The workers roared their approval. A dead weight settled in my chest. As I looked over to Percy, he wasn't looking much better than I am.

"What's District One?" he called over the deafening din.

"I don't know," I answered. "But I suppose that it's a 'District' and it's 'District Number _One_'."

"Thank you for telling us that, Mrs. Pinecone-Face-That-Is-Stating-Extremely-Obvious-Statements," Percy said sarcastically.

"I said," I growled, "_don't call me Pinecone Face_! And you _did_ ask me what 'District One' was!"

A red door that I hadn't noticed before flew open, and screaming and talking immediately ceased.

A chubby man that was twice as wide as he was tall—not a good pair—and while wearing a dull but flamboyant, gray-green suit, he had small, beady black eyes and his face seemed to be glistening with water. When he opened his mouth, Percy and I cringed. The guy's teeth were all far apart, and they were yellow and filed to sharp points. In short, to me, he kind of looked like a crocodile. No, strike that, he did look like a crocodile.

"What's going on over here, ladies?" he growled. Literally, his voice was a hoarse growl that made the hairs on the back of my neck prickle. Did he have vocal surgery to alter his voice that way?

"Nothing, Manager Kranson," a woman called. "Just a couple of teenagers hanging around in the factory."

Manager Kranson frowned and swept the room with his watery-gray gaze. They landed on my and Percy. He tottered over, stumbling over scraps of metal and stone and blah, blah, blah, until he reached us.

"Why are you not in The Arena?" he asked suspiciously in that croaking, growling voice of his.

"I—We don't even know what 'The Arena' is," Percy said.

I kicked him. "Sure we do!" I said brightly. "It's an arena, right?"

"And she wonders why I called her Mrs. Pinecone-Face-That-Is-Stating-Extremely-Obvious-Statements," Percy muttered under his breath.

I glared at him. "I heard that!"

We started a heated game of tag, tripping over the supplies, jumping over tables full of junk. I almost punched this woman's head, but instead, I ruined her poofy, hot pink wig.

"Enough!" Manager Kranson thundered in an attempt to stop us from trashing his factory. Of course, me being me and Percy being Percy, we didn't stop. Blame Daddy Zeus and Poseidon for ADHD.

"Oh..." Manager Kranson sighed as Percy zipped passed him, laughing manically. "Maybe I really am getting too old for this job..."

"Too darn right, you are!" a voice cackled. I balked and stood very, very, still, which was very hard for me. As mentioned before, blame Zeus for my ADHD—and my aura for attracting monsters—but if I moved, I was dead meat.

The workers screamed and excavated.

Percy halted as well and caught a glimpse of Echidna and the rabid, fire-breathing three-headed monster. "Oh."

"_Oh_?" I yelled. "There's a dumb snake-monster standing with her son, her pet Chimera, and you say '_Oh_'? What kind of sea spawn are you? Even Theseus had more sense than you!"

Trust me, the Theseus of the myths wasn't that much of a hero. Quite the contrary, the only major monster he'd ever killed was the Minotaur (it wasn't exactly that hard to defeat) and he spent the rest of his life skulking in a little seaside resort.

Percy puffed. "Well, at least—"

Manager Kranson, who had been standing there, dumbstruck, the entire time, gathered his wits, took one look at the madly cackling snake-woman and her pet three-headed monster, did the sensible thing: he screamed and ran away, yelling something about evil mushrooms from the Capitol (whatever that was) at the top of his lungs. That man really was extremely deranged...

Echidna stopped cackling. "Well, what do we have here?" she smiled, her forked tongue flickering between her teeth. "Two little demigods, waiting to be eaten? This is a real treat!"

The Chimera sniffed the air and growled.

"Of course, my son," Echidna said delightedly. "You're right! I think that these are the last two demigods in the world! Fortune is smiling upon us today! You know, with demigods so rare since they fell under the hands of the lovely Capitol, demigods have been getting rarer and rarer! In fact—"

"Wait. Olympians... _gone_?" I asked, stunned.

"Why, of course, my dear," Echidna simpered, her sympathetic smile obviously fake.

If one more monster or person called me "dear", I would punch their lights out.

"You haven't heard?" Echidna frowned, narrowing her reptilian yellow eyes. The Chimera yelped and pawed the ground expectantly.

"Wait a moment, sonny."

Awkward silence passed for a minute until the sound of sirens jolted me from my stupor.

Percy winced. "Now would be a good time to run," he said.

"That's the best idea you've had in your life," I sardonically exclaimed as I followed the sprinting Percy out of the room, leaving Echidna muttering and tapping the floor with a wooden cane.


	3. Chapter Three

Chapter Three **  
>Percy<strong>

Just leave Thalia to make a fool of herself as she just _had_ to get herself locked up in an insane asylum, I mean, a cross between an insane asylum and a high-tech prison. And guess who had to go in and rescue her? Me, of course.

So she told you about how we were running away from the evil snake-lady Echidna, right? (And I have every right to call her Mrs. Pinecone-Face-That-Is-Stating-Extremely-Obvious-Statements.)

We were running into what appeared to be a large town that was bustling with women and children shopping just for the sake of shopping. Thalia and I saw quite a few people that looked even more horrendous than the ones that were working in the factory. They smelled even worse. Did people here ever hear of a word called "_showering_"? Once, we had to stop because both of us couldn't take the grotesque images anymore. We ducked into a little neglected alley and retched.

"Really," I gasped, gagging. "These people have even worse perfume then the Aphrodite cabin puts on!"

Thalia accidentally bashed her nose against the steel wall of a bakery. "Even the hellhounds didn't like their perfume when we were fighting the Titans," she agreed, now sporting a bloody nose. "Gah! This is getting stupid!"

"Exactly what definition do you use when you say 'stupid'?" I asked her, a smile creeping up my mouth.

"That's a stupid question." Thalia stamped her foot in frustration. "I don't like this place," she muttered. "It has an odd feeling to it."

"Like?" My voice trailed off as Thalia pointedly looked at a man who was like the god of piercings.

"And there's another, more obscure feeling to this 'District One'," Thalia continued.

I tried to stay still, never an easy job even in the best of times. "I don't feel anything."

"A feeling of..."

Something clicked in my brain as I saw a couple of kids that looked no more than three stumble out of a huge building that looked like a modern Coliseum smashed into a extreme gym where you lift weights and run on a treadmill twenty-four/seven.

"Danger," I suggested. "Grimness."

Thalia nodded, obviously troubled. "It's like the gods had sealed themselves off again... Wait a minute. _Where the heck is Olympus?_"

I thought for a moment that she had quite possibly lost her mind, which was extremely possible for Thalia. "It's in New York," I said, "the Empire State Building!"

"Yes," Thalia impatiently said, as if waiting for me to get the point. "Where is New York? This isn't New York, unless we've somehow traveled to the future of the most-grotesque-New-York-there-ever-was!"

"Olympus is still in New York," I insisted. "We just aren't _in_ Manhattan or New York or anything like that!"

Thalia nodded, but she still looked uncertain. "Right."

"Hey, you there!" a deep voice boomed.

Thalia jumped like somebody had put a rocket launcher underneath her. Talk about being surprised.

She turned to see the sight that I was seeing. "Just who—"

"Are you," I interrupted, giving Thalia a pointed look. "What do you want?"

Thalia shot me a glare, her cold blue eyes telling me to stop readjusting her perfectly cordial statements. As if.

"No," the man curtly snapped, his eyes trained on Thalia. "Why are you carrying the stolen gems?"

"The _what_?" Thalia demanded. "I'm not a burglar! Well, except for animals, but that totally doesn't count!"

The man drawled as he stuck his nasty face right into Thalia's, "There are no animals around here, except for the Capitol's muttations."

"Muttations?" Thalia asked. "Is that some kind of—"

"You come with me," the guy said. He grabbed Thalia's arms.

"Hey!" I yelled, running to them. "Let go of her!"

"Boy," he snapped, "do not interfere, unless you want to be locked up as well! Go back to your training!"

Thalia's face was set into a growl, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't wrench free of the man's iron grip. At least, I supposed it was an iron grip. What was this guy, Hercules?

But I didn't get why Thalia wasn't shocking the person or anything.

And of course, I watched helplessly as Thalia got dragged to what was probably to police station.

I tore through the crowd towards the police station and banged on the door with both fists. "Let me in! _Erre es korokas! Lusus naturae!_"

Yeah. I usually don't curse that broadly (though I wasn't sure where the "freak of nature" phrase came from. I didn't even know if it was a curse. It was Latin, and Lupa never gave us a manual book called _The Fine Art of Cursing in the Old Languages_), but the buff guy who looked disturbingly like Ares was driving me nuts. What would Artemis say if her first lieutenant got killed and I was the only demigod at the crime scene? Hopefully, the buff guy would be Ares and Artemis and Zeus would be yelling at him for eternity. Although I highly doubted that.

A couple of people looked at my way. They probably saw a crazy teenage boy banging on the doors of the police station as hard as he could, yelling meaninglessly at whoever was inside. And why he wasn't at this training thing.

I finally had to resort to a different way to get in the police station.

Sneaking towards the back of the police station, I searched for any loose door or an opening that I could worm my way into. Nothing. The back walls were solid, smooth steel. No opening.

I stamped my foot (so reminiscent of Thalia), annoyed. I wished that I had Leo right now, but then, I would have to pay for the meltdown.

"What is _up_ with this thing?" I demanded to no one in particular. I started shouting random things at the wall, like "Open sesame!" and "Open oats!"

Of course, it didn't work. Shame that.

I kicked the wall in total, pure frustration. Still, nothing happened.

I got so mad that they wouldn't let me in that a few rain clouds parked overhead and it started raining acid rain right on the police complex. It matched my mood perfectly.

The people that were walking along the streets, mouths agape, pointed at the seemingly weird storm clouds that were sizzling through the metal. I hoped that I wouldn't have to pay for the damage funds. Did the police station have a warranty, or what?

The front door burst open and a guy that was wearing an impeccable gray three-piece suit stalked out. "Why is there a rain cloud hovering above the Complex?" he demanded in a clipped tone.

All the passerby starting murmuring, "No, no, we don't know; it just appeared above the Complex."

"Well, it's burning a hole through the ceiling!" the gray man cried in annoyance. All the prisoners will escape through the roof!"

_How will they manage that?_ I sourly thought. Did they have magical flying powers? I seriously doubted that Zeus would have children at this point, considering what Thalia and I saw on the street. Zeus would have to be crazy before marrying one of these demented and gross people.

I sneaked into the open door that the little gray man had forgotten to close, and nobody noticed me. I slipped into a large, gray hallway exactly the shade of the guy's suit.

I heard muttering behind one door that read _PRISON CELL: EMPLOYEES ONLY._

I cautiously pushed the door open and found pandemonium.

I couldn't see Thalia anywhere, but I decided to search the room, just in case. I immediately got hit in the face with some stale blackberry pie. Or was it blueberry? I couldn't tell, but that hardly mattered. Except for the fact that the filling inside was ruining my vision, splaying my sight with sticky strands of blue-black jam.

There was a high pitched squeal as a rat scampered past my feet, its tail between its legs like a frightened cat.

"Percy!" I heard a familiar voice behind me. "What in the name of Zeus are you _doing_ here?"

Thalia ducked as another pie, this time with an orange on top of it flew past her, missing her hair by an inch.

"Rescuing you!" I said.

Thalia cracked a smile. "Personal loyalty, right?"

I nodded at the mention of my fatal flaw. "You so sound like Athena or Annabeth now."

Thalia looked offended. "I'm not a smart aleck! Just 'cause I guessed correctly that your fatal flaw is personal loyalty doesn't mean that I score 100s on every single test!"

"Uh huh," I chuckled, raising an eyebrow.

Thalia glared at me.

"Geez," I said, still laughing, "the word is called 'sarcasm.'"

Thalia huffed and sighed, "Why don't we talk as soon as we get out of here?"

I smiled. "Did I ever tell you that you were a genius?"

"No," Thalia said, "though frankly, I'm not so honored. Come on!"


	4. Chapter Four

Chapter Four **  
>Percy<strong>

Now, really, I regret saying that Thalia sounded like Athena or Annabeth.

You might ask why. You probably already know the answer.

Yes, I gave Thalia a lecture on quantum physics. I'm not even kidding.

In fact, I was pretty sure that it was all Thalia could do to restrain herself from duct-taping my mouth shut, tying my hands together with a thick length of rope, and killing me while dumping me in some abandoned coal mine. I understand, really, but my mouth wouldn't stop blabbering about this and that. I didn't even know what I was saying. How did I know this stuff about _quantum physics?_ If these bursts of knowledge kept on coming at this rate, I would be smarter than Athena, Minerva, the whole Athena cabin at Camp Half-Blood, and the whole Minerva cabin at the Legion camp _combined_. That very thought creeped me out so much that I stopped talking at once, trying to forget what I had said.

I woke up, startled, in a nice, fluffy, white bed, awoken by a strangled shout.

"GAH!" Thalia yelled, jerking violently in her sleep. "Luke! No, STOP!"

I wondered if Hypnos was feeling merciful at the moment. I really doubted that thought. If Thalia was currently dreaming of Luke and was screaming his name in her sleep, it had to be a nightmare of some sort. Unless Luke had a near-death experience that I didn't know about while he and Thalia were on the run. I hoped that it was the latter. Even though it was not a good dream, it was better than a nightmare about Luke. Would he have demon eyes? A forked tongue? Little red horns sprouting from his head? Wait, for Thalia, both of them would probably be nightmares. Not good.

I cursed Morpheus. I cursed Hypnos. Morpheus for even _sending_ Thalia this dream, and Hypnos because he won't _free_ Thalia from his clutches.

_Stop thinking about this, Percy,_ I chided myself. I shook myself from those thoughts and turned to Thalia.

"Thalia..." I whispered in her ear.

She didn't heed my voice and flinched even more violently, scrabbling at the sheets. Was this the first sign of madness in demigods?

"Thalia!" I said, my voice louder. I was getting really worried when she didn't even turn towards the sound of my voice. Gods, what in the name of Poseidon was wrong with her?

Thalia was twitching violently now. "Luke..."

I shook Thalia as hard as I could without sending her sheets tumbling or pushing her off the bed. "WAKE UP!"

Thalia jerked again, but didn't stir from Hypnos's clutches.

"No," she muttered. "Percy...keep...him...alive..."

What? What does she mean, me keeping Luke alive? He was already dead! He can't return from the Underworld!

Thalia groaned, twitched, and then snapped awake, her blue eyes clouded and full of terror. I had never seen her that way, even when Apollo let her (ahem, _forced _her) to drive the sun chariot.

I murmured, "What's wrong?"

Thalia wildly looked around to make sure that there was no Zombie Luke lurking around the room before she answered, her voice trembling. "W-what do y-y-you me-me-mean? You were all b-bl-bloody...you were d-dying, and I...I...was responsible!"

Her last words came out as a choke.

"What's this about Luke?" I asked, panicked, because Thalia was really scaring me at this point.

Thalia flinched so hard that she fell of the bed in a tangled mess. "N-nothing," her muffled voice stammered from somewhere in the bedsheets.

"Thalia! Don't lie!" I said.

Thalia appeared from the sheets, her eyes kind of glassy now. "I don't w-want to talk about it."

Seeing the look on my face, she bowed her head. "Please."

If Thalia was "please-ing" me, she must really not want to talk about it. But the words she had said earlier, about me dying...what on earth did _that _statement mean?

"Thalia!" I pleaded. "Just tell me! I can help!"

That totally did not sound like me, but I didn't like the part about me dying. That part doesn't sound good.

"You can't," Thalia whispered, burying her head in her hands. "Y-you can't. That's what scares me."

I frowned. "Aw, c'mon, Thals..."

"Don't call me that."

"Fine," I relented. "But why is a simple dream upsetting you so much? It's not as if it was a prank call from the gods!"

Thalia didn't answer that statement, which led me to believe that something had gone horribly, horribly wrong.

"Or was it?" I asked, getting more and more confused.

Thalia glared at me with red-rimmed eyes. "Percy, I'm begging you...stop inquiring over this. It'll get you nowhere."

I persisted, though. I felt like Pandora now. "Thalia, it can't be _that_ bad. It can't be so bad that it will end your life! Artemis wouldn't want that! Neither would Zeus, or me, or Annabeth..."

My voice trailed off as Thalia shook her head miserably. "You don't understand!" she said. "Besides, it's nothing you should be poking your finger into. It's too personal!"

The way that she said _personal_ reminded me way back, back during that Capture the Flag game with the Hunters...

The way that Thalia had quirked a little when she said the name "Jason", unnoticed by the other campers. Which turned out to be her long lost little brother's name.

"What now?" I asked. "Some other long-lost family member that you've told no one about?"

Thalia turned away and muttered something about going to the bathroom. She zoomed out of the room in search of the toilets.

My curiosity was a roaring flame that couldn't be diminished by anything at this point. Except for answers. I got up quickly and quietly and followed Thalia out of the room.

* * *

><p>I followed the rather loud footsteps. Thalia obviously wasn't trying to cover up her tracks.<p>

She wandered down the sprawling labyrinth of hallways, hands shoved in her jacket pockets, muttering aimlessly to herself. I caught the words _cousin_ and _son of Hermes_.

I got a feeling that she was definitely talking about Luke.

I didn't know much about her past that she spent on the run. Long story short: she got turned into a tree. Nothing left to say.

But there were rumors around camp when the Hunters weren't there (well, if Thalia was there, their mouths shut up) that she had a "romantic" relationship with Luke while she was partnered with him. Before she and Luke met Annabeth.

Personally, I think that that whole business is _gaga_. Crazy. Absurd. Off of the launcher. And now, I was even more sure of that statement.

I thought back to when Thalia had yelled to Luke, _You could never beat me!_ I had a premonition that she wasn't talking about the times she and Luke sparred together.

I think that I found out the answer, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it.

Luke had replied, _We'll see, my old friend_ or something like that. But I saw both of their eyes. I knew that the word, "friend" meant a lot more to them than anyone could have dreamed of. Even Annabeth.

Suddenly, the pieces clicked together. I seemed to go numb, getting a massive brain freeze.

Luke. LUKE!

Luke was...

* * *

><p><strong>Oooooh, cliffhanger! Not really. Or really?<strong>


	5. Chapter Five

**Sorry for the long wait! I was kind of caught up in my Wanted: Neptune's Trident story...well, here's the next chapter!**

* * *

><p>Chapter Five<strong><br>Thalia**

I could hear Percy tip-toeing not-so-quietly a couple of feet behind me, but I decided to let him go for once. Because I was still hurt by my dream. I absently wondered if being turned into a tree had something to do with it. But a single pine tree...being turned into it, it doesn't bring a dream that has a deceased Luke in it _and_ a bloody Percy Jackson, does it? Was I finally going insane from the clogged-up memories that I had told no one?

It was painful to keep from blurting out about Jason's existence when I knew that I was lying to the whole world. Well, not technically lying, but still...I didn't tell my two best friends the truth. It was more of a half-truth, and in my opinion, those are just as bad a lies. More of a lie than a truth.

Flashback:

_We were sitting around a small campfire, huddled around it to keep from getting hypothermia. The wind was howling outside, mercilessly ripping through the sparse covering of vines that covered the entrance of the cave we were sheltering in._

_I was lost in the thoughts of the past, of Jason while Luke and Annabeth were gulping down some food. Me? I wasn't even looking at it, and if I was, my eyes were glazed all over. _

_Luke glanced up at me, his mouth full. With a humongous swallow, he asked a question that caught me off guard. "You have any siblings or anything?"_

_I screeched to a halt (not literally, but it was similar to how I felt). "_Excuse me?_"_

_Luke asked again, "Do you have any siblings?"_

_How could I tell them about Jason? I had made myself promise to never mention him in my entire life, not until my dying day._

_I didn't say anything._

_"You do?" Annabeth asked, her gray eyes wide._

_"Well...no," I mumbled, ducking my head. There was _one_ guy who was technically my sibling (and technically not), but I haven't seen him since I was three._

_Annabeth shrugged and went back to shoveling corn into her mouth. That girl could eat like a bulldozer when she was really hungry. But Luke kept on watching me, watching me like a bird of prey does to it's tasty little snack it's about to swoop down to catch. I stared back at him, and suddenly had a premonition. My eyes widened, and not being able to stand the shock, I blacked out._

And that was the point when I realized that someone had cheated on Hermes. I knew that I shouldn't take it too personally, because gods cheat on their mortal partners all the time, and mortal parents always (well, usually) move on to another husband, but, hey, I was twelve at the time. I didn't spend all my time researching about godly habits with mortals. And it turned out that I was wrong, anyways. But it didn't take me long to figure out what was really the truth after I got turned from a tree to a girl.

I think that you can guess what Luke is now.

Well, if you guessed "_cousin_"...

You're wrong...but sort of right.

I know, I know, Percy was telling you how I muttered the word "cousin" and "son of Hermes". I did say that, but the "cousin" phrase was just a decoy to (hopefully) make Percy think that "oh, Luke is my cousin, blah, blah, blah" and all of that nonsense.

Luke and his mom, May Castellan, had always thought themselves to be mother and son. I didn't think that that was true.

I stopped suddenly and said, "I know you're there."

There was a _thud_ behind me as Percy jumped. He thought that he was busted, which would be true as soon as we got back to Camp Half-Blood.

I turned on my heel and grabbed his shoulders. "Percy. Did your mom have a brother or sister?"

He frowned and gaped at me. "Is Luke your cousin?"

"Huh," I chuckled. "I figured that you would say that."

"So...was I right?"

I rolled my eyes. "No, dummy! You're not right."

Percy studied my face. "Are you being sarcastic?"

"No," I said truthfully. "But I realized that I had known you for longer then I thought I did."

"I don't know," Percy said, averting my eyes.

I raised an eyebrow. "Perseus Jackson, if you want to learn more about your past, I suggest you start revealing some information."

I smirked. "Annabeth would have a win-win situation."

Percy looked thunderstruck. "What do you mean?"

I held up a finger. "One, start talking. Two, you know that Annabeth liked Luke before. Three, she hasn't lost Luke yet. He's still very much alive, if I'm correct."

The son of Poseidon, that Seaweed Brain, turned pale. He bowed his head. "Someone...I had only seen her once in my life. I think that my mom had a sister called Star or something like that."

Bingo. I had hit the one million dollar—make that ten billion—jackpot.

Percy saw the look on my face. "What? Tell me!"

I snorted. "Yep. I was correct."

Percy turned red. "_What_?"

I said promptly, "You and Luke are cousins."

* * *

><p>A guy ruined our little party by walking in on us. "Oh, good. You're awake."<p>

I blinked. That was a...nonchalant and rather "caring" statement.

"Okay," Percy said, still a little bit dazed from my outburst. "Where are we?"

The man didn't answer. "You come with me."

I gulped. The last time somebody had said that, I was accused of robbing some sort of jewels. As if. But this time, I was in for better, easier. Percy's eyes lightened up as we stepped into a colossal room. "Is that a sword fighting arena?" he asked excitedly.

The man looked confused. I guessed that he wasn't used to dealing with two maniac demigods with serious issues because they argued too much.

"Yes," he answered. "Though you will be tested to see if you are liable to volunteer or not."

That sent a shiver down my spine. "What do you mean by..._volunteer_?" I cautiously asked.

The man looked down at me, surprised. "Of course, if the tribute that was chosen at the reaping did not pass the test, somebody who _did_ pass it and is over twelve must volunteer. Otherwise, we wouldn't be able to win the Games, would we?"

I scowled in my heart. These people were cheaters in these "Games" of theirs. Sadly, there was no going back. I had to take this "test", whatever that was. Strangely, Percy looked excited.

We stepped into the "sword fighting arena", where a bunch of kids were sparring with each other.

The man took a deep breath and screamed, "_STOP WHAT YOU ARE DOING! WE HAVE SEVERAL NEW...MEMBERS THAT HAVE YET TO BE TESTED!"_

Every pair of eyes turned to me and Percy. A couple of them snickered. My fists clenched. If the test meant fighting those losers, then I could certainly understand why Percy looked as if he were in the Elysium Fields.

He turned to us. "You will each be placed against the five leaders of the five groups. Judging by what point you stop at, you will be placed in the group that you last defeated. You will be able to ascend to a higher group if you show promise in your training. If you happen to defeat all leaders, which has never happened before, you will be forced to volunteer at the reaping, and if you're chosen...all the better!"

He paused, taking a breath. I glanced at Percy, and his eyes told me, _If he asks who would like to go first, you are _so_ raising your hand. You go first!_

I flashed him a look that had the words, _You'll pay for that!_ written all over it when the man said, "Now, who would like to go first!"

Percy and practically everybody else in the room stared at me. I started to feel very uncomfortable under the gazes of so many people.

"Well?" the man asked. "What's your name?"

I stepped forward, glaring at Percy who smiled innocently. "Thalia."

"Full name?" he queried.

I stiffened. "I don't use my mother's surname."

The guy shrugged. "Well, then. Let's get started!"


	6. Chapter Six

Chapter Six **  
>Thalia<strong>

I gritted my teeth and asked, "Can I take a pass?"

Percy made a gagging motion behind my back when he thought that I wasn't looking. The whole arena was ringing with cruel laughter. Oh, gods, they were _really_ asking for the full treatment/lesson on "how-to-get-turned-into-meatloaf".

Percy caught my eye, retreated, then gave me a small thumbs-up. Well, he could have given that to me _before_ he shoved an unwilling me into a fight with five people that would soon be unconscious.

"Relax," the man boomed. "It'll all be over in a minute."

He didn't look convinced that I could beat even one group leader, and that thought got me mad. I struggled to keep my voice calm as I "placidly" asked, "Do we get out choose of weapons?"

"Nope," a girl said from somewhere in the back. "You use a different weapon to fight each group leader. Group Five, you use a pair of bow and arrows—"

I had to duck my head to make sure that they didn't notice my smile.

"—Group Four, a knife. Group Three, a sword. Group Two, a spear."

She paused, eying my face for a horrified reaction. I kept my demeanor cool as I waited for the mention Group One's weapon.

"And for Group One," she smirked, "you use all the weapons you have at hand."

Obviously, they've never had somebody who was already fully equipped with weapons already. They were sure that they would always get an easy picking, if Group One had a weapon and their hapless opponent did not. That was a rather...interesting approach, although it was kind of—no, _really—_cowardly. Group One, the best group, got the easiest challenge? That almost didn't make sense. How in the world would they stay in practice, only sparring with people that were less capable with wielding weapons then they were?

Fine. If they want to play that way, they've got it. Percy was smiling a little bit as he settled down to watch me being beaten by a Group Five member. Hmph.

"Hey, Mika! It's all yours!" the same girl called out.

A girl who could _not_ have been older then twelve walked out from the mass of people, all the while casually stringing a golden bow. She had a matching quiver slung across her back. I wondered how the audience would take to me pulling a bow and quiver out of nowhere. Probably freak out, so I asked, "Um, what's-your-name—?"

"Allen."

"Uh...isn't that the god of toilet paper?" (Don't ask. It was a long story.)

Allen raised an eyebrow. "What were you asking me?" he asked in a very Snape-like voice. Yes, I watch Harry Potter. Joy to the world, Santa Claus is going to come and shower us with gifts! Gasp!

"If we don't have a pair of bow and arrows..."

Allen frowned and pointed towards a shed at the corner. "Make it quick."

I bolted into the shed and almost started yelling my head off in there when I realized that there were people outside. I quickly summoned my bow and arrows and walked out of the little tool-shed.

"Round one!" Allen boomed. "Start!"

I instantly ducked one second into the match as a bunch of arrows whizzed above where my head was a moment ago. I had to give it to this "Mika" kid, she was pretty good. Fast reflexes, good aim. If she wasn't trying to maim me right now, I would probably invite her to join the Hunters. Then, I remembered that I can't. Why? I had a feeling that Olympus had gone into hiding and me and Percy were the only demigods currently running around in this crazy world.

Rolling on the ground, I drew an arrow and waited for the right opportunity, the right instant where I could knock her out in one move. You know, the instant she ran out of arrows.

See, Mika truly was a good archer, but the problem was that she doesn't manage her arrows properly. They can be gone in five seconds if she uses them this fast, especially if she fires three or four at once. But still, it was getting pretty annoying to jump, duck, and roll under, between, or over five billion arrows that seem to be heading at you from all directions. Except that there were only three or four arrows at a time, and they were only coming from one direction.

Mika and the rest of the people were surprised to find me alive. That's when I struck.

Just as she notched her last arrow, I slithered past her in a flash and released my own arrow. I was aiming for the small of her back, and that's what I got. Apparently an extremely sensitive part for her, she crumpled down to the ground, stunned.

Percy was the only one smiling in the room. "Way to go, P—"

I glared at him. "Shut up, Fish Breath!"

"You're impossible," Percy retorted.

I snapped back, "You're insufferable."

"Intolerable!"

"That's the same thing as insufferable!"

"I don't care!"

"_You_ sound like Annabeth!"

"She pushed too much architectural facts into my brain!

"Which is why it's made of seaweed. It couldn't hold that much information."

Everybody was watching me and Percy as if we were tennis players. I was five seconds away from sending a freaking arrow through his brain if he didn't shut up right this instant. Unfortunately, he did, slouching back into his seat. That was too bad; he could have been shut up for forever. Although Annabeth wouldn't be so happy with me for killing her boyfriend (I mean, she would be really mad, but who cares?), but it was totally worth it.

Still scowling, I stomped back into the shed, willed for my weapons to disappear, and re-emerged with (obviously) one of my knives.

It was pretty easygoing after the Percy incident, until Allen was glaring at the First Group leader, whose legs were quaking as Allen pulled her aside. Definitely, it meant that she better maim me in a really spectacular way or there would be Hades to pay.

While Allen was screaming at the girl whom I had identified as the one who told me the rules, I started thinking about which of my weapons I would use the the match.

I knew that I was certainly going to use Aegis, and possibly my quiver...wait, no, that wouldn't work. I had already revealed it during my fight with Mika, and I didn't want to arouse suspicion. I had also used one of my knives, and it would look really strange if I had an exact "replica" of the "one in the tool-shed".

Which pretty much only left my spear, which I had forgotten I had until now. (Hey, could you blame me? I didn't exactly use the spear nowadays, with the Hunters and all that.)

All right. That would work, but the problem was, I was a bit rusty on my spear. Even though I had used a lightweight one when I had my Group Two match, I knew that my old spear was way heavier. Even though, as I just remembered, I used it during Capture the Flag. And I was out of practice with it.

Spears take a lot of power to wield. It's annoying. It takes a lot of your energy. Eventually, the tip of the spear, which has the actual weapon on it, starts to drag your hand down. If you're not careful, you can, in one of the worst-case scenarios, pull a muscle. I learned that the hard way.

I uncertainly took my Mace canister out. It expanded into a full-length spear, which on my hand, felt like a five-ton bowling ball. Was I really _that_ out of practice?

But I had more things to worry about. Everybody's eyes were as big as quarters, the way Gleeson Hedge's pupils turn after he had at least six or eight double espressos, like when he's on an extremely high caffeine rush.

Oh, gods. I quickly slapped my bracelet just as Allen and the girl turned around. At the sight of Medusa's head, which was currently hanging limply to my side, they balked. Allen stuttered, "Where did you get that shield?"

I shrugged nonchalantly. "It was just...lying around."

The girl's eyes bugged out and whispered something in Allen's ear. He shook his head vigorously.

The girl stepped forward and drew a wickedly sharp sword and a shield.

"Um," I said, "before you have the honor of killing me, what's your name?"

The girl glumly stared back at me, as if she had already lost hope because of Aegis. My shield does stuff like that. "Jade."

Percy had left, since he was unable to view the final contest.

Allen was bright red as he growled, "Start!"

Jade immediately lunged towards me, her sword outstretched, waiting to pierce my skin. I wasn't going to let that happen anytime soon.

I intercepted with my spear, which almost sent a ball of lightning rippling across the room. Only in the nick of time did I manage to stop it. As it was, a couple of tendrils of that blue, sizzling stuff emitted from the metallic part of my spear. Everybody's eyes flickered to the sight, but luckily, nobody thought that it was a supernatural phenomenon. Huh.

I swiped at Jade's legs, earning myself an unbalanced girl that would be easy to take out now. Unfortunately, my spear was stubbornly resisting my arm muscles, complaining that the spear hadn't been used in a long time so why now?

"Shut up!" I told myself quietly. "Just get on with the task. You used it during Capture the Flag, so why not now?"

Yep. Definitely going insane. Talking to myself.

Jade was still staggering from the weight of the blow (more spear then me). I rocketed forwards for one last thrust. Jade fell insensible on the ground, blood leaking from a deep by small hole in her leg. Guess that I accidentally penetrated her flesh a little bit too deep.

Dropping my spear directly afterward, I frowned. Why did my spear feel like a two-ton block of lead?

Allen was tomato-red as he proclaimed me the victor. I knew that I wouldn't be hearing anything from him anytime soon. He bellowed at the doors, "COME IN, BOY!"

Percy crashed in. He looked surprised. "That fast? It was only a minute long!"

That, of course, didn't add any positive points to Allen's mood as I walked past him and into the stands, flashing Percy a dirty look as I passed him.


	7. Chapter Seven

Chapter Seven**  
>Percy<strong>

Allen was as red as a tomato after I defeated the Group One's "lieutenant" or whatever you call the second-best in the group, due to the leader still being knocked out. "That's it," he said in a controlled voice. "You two are the tributes for District One this year."

"Will somebody explain to me what 'tribute' means?" Thalia and I exasperatedly said at the same time. She glowered at me and shut up.

Wayne, the dude that I had just defeated spoke up. "You seriously don't know? Ever since the rebels were defeated by the Capitol in the Dark Days, all of us districts have to send to tributes to participate in the annual Hunger Games. You send one girl tribute and one boy tribute. If you're not picked from the glass ball, than you guys have to volunteer!"

I blinked. "Is that, like, a rule for all of these 'Districts' in the 'Hunting Games'—"

"Hunger Games," Thalia grumbled. I sighed. "Hunger Games. Whatever."

Wayne huffed. "Well, no, but it's custom for District One to do that. That way, we send the best, and only the best, not some wannabe victor for the Hunger Games that will probably die at the bloodbath at the Cornucopia. Anyways, the rules of the Hunger Games are pretty simple: _Stay alive_. Oh, and there's an unspoken rule about not eating each other—"

Thalia shot a worried glance at me. I gave a small shrug of my shoulders. Her eyes said, _Would they freak out or not if we asked if there are any cannibal giants and big black doggies that want to eat us in the Hunger Games?_

"—But the first 'rule' is basically the only one. You've gotta be the last one standing, and you are the victor of the Hunger Games."

"What?" I asked in disbelief. "So, if you and your district partner are the last ones standing..."

"You try to kill your district partner," Wayne placidly said, but not the least bit sorrowful. My mouth dropped open as Thalia scowled and crossed her arms. I definitely didn't want to kill her, and she obviously didn't want to murder me. Although it seemed like she did want to do that to me sometimes. I hoped that she wouldn't set the wolves on me.

"Enough!" Allen ordered, cutting into our little chat. "You two will start teaching. I do believe that we...need your skills."

He shot a nasty look at the groups and stomped off, the door swinging close behind him.

I subconsciously glanced at Thalia, who glared at me. "Well, Seaweed Brain? Get your lazy butt over here and start helping."

* * *

><p><em><span>At the Reaping...<span>_

Thalia gagged when she saw the little woman that hopped up onto the stage. "Holy Zeus! Is getting cosmetically altered a way of life around here?"

"Thalia," I tiredly said as the crowd tittered nervously at the fly/woman hybrid. "We've been through this for two weeks."

Thalia made a face at me. "Yes, and I suppose that you would like to get the facial features of an Atlantic bottlenose."

"You sound like Dionysus, I griped. "Of course, that's not surprising, since you're brothers with him."

Thalia turned red. "I take offense at that statement, and you forgot that the gods do _not_ have DNA."

I rolled my eyes and turned my attention to the stage.

"Helllloooooo, District One!" the woman squeals in a high-pitched buzzing-ish sound. "I am Jenny Gorganso—"

"Weird name," I muttered.

"—And I am here for the reaping!"

"No duh, Sherlock," Thalia mumbled.

"As it is custom," Jenny continued, "ladies first!"

She hopped over to this huge glass ball containing a bunch of slips of paper. I saw Thalia turn a bit green as Jenny reached into the sphere and spent a long time mixing the the paper together.

"Get on with it!" Allen bellowed.

Jenny hastily draws out a slip of paper and squeaks, "Thalia Grace!"

I could literally see Thalia swallow as she stomped up to the stage. The gods _had_ to be interfering with this reaping.

"Well, greet our newest tribute!" Jenny calls, placing a hand on Thalia's shoulder, which was a really bad idea. Thalia's expression flickered momentarily, and Jenny suddenly let go, her hand actually sparking. Fortunately, Jenny didn't say anything. She asked, "No volunteers?"

You could hear a pin drop in a stack of hay as everybody between twelve and eighteen sent me and Thalia a glare.

Jenny reached into the boys' ball and drew the first slip she encountered. "Percy Jackson!"

Definitely. No doubt that the gods were interfering with this stupid Hunger Games reaping.

"Percy Jackson!" Jenny repeats. I shook myself out of my trance and headed towards the stage.

"Greet the newest tributes for the Seventy-Third Hunger Games!"

There's an outburst of halfhearted cheering as "Peacekeepers" in white uniforms drag us towards the huge complex known as the Justice Building.

"You two don't have anybody to say good-bye to, don't you?" the man at my left inquired.

"No," I said.

"Good." He and his comrades toss me onto a train. "Because there are new regulations this year."

Thalia growled at their retreating backs as the door slammed shut. "Remind me to kill them when we get out of this mess."

I rubbed my head. "You know who our mentors are?"

"Yeah," Thalia shrugged. "Cashmere and Gloss, or whatever their names are."

"That's right," a silky voice said right next to my ear. I jumped and whirled around to face a girl with curly blond hair and blue eyes.

"Um..." I said really intelligently. "Hi?"

I could tell that Thalia was going to kill me after this, so I looked anywhere but her.

The girl didn't seem to be perturbed by my not-so-smart comment. Instead, she looked me up and down as if conducting a CAT scan on me. She didn't make any comments on my stature or anything, and she simply said, "You guessed right. I'm Cashmere, and this is my brother, Gloss." She indicated towards a guy who looked like a nicer Luke Castellan, if that was possible. Seriously, the dude had close-cropped blond hair and baby blue eyes exactly like the deceased son of Hermes. I felt Thalia stiffen behind me.

"We'll be your mentors this year for the Seventy-Third Hunger Games," Cashmere said.

Thalia gave me a pinch behind my back and her eyes shot daggers at me when I looked back at her. Her expression said: _Don't you dare say anything._

Gloss picked up from his sister's thread. "We're the last stop for the train to the Capitol, but there is still a few more hours to go. Refueling, replacement of malfunctioning parts of the tribute train, that sort of stuff. In fact, dinner's in a couple of minutes. Until then, you can get used to your surroundings. You living quarters are over there." He gestured towards a couple of doors at the end of the hallway.

Thalia grabbed my arm. "Thanks," she said. "We'll meet you at...wherever the dining hall is." She dragged me down the hallway and into our rooms, leaving the mentors talking to each other behind her.

Thalia dumped me on the bed and I couldn't help but gasp at its comfort.

"Really, Percy!" Thalia hissed. "For a second there, I thought that you were about to tell them that we were freaking demigods!"

"Why would I do that?" I asked a bit dreamily.

Thalia swatted me. "Get off the bed and onto that chair. Don't even try to argue, or I'll do it myself." Thalia seemed to be in hysterics at the moment, and there was nothing less that I wanted to do then have an angry daughter of Zeus hot on my trail.

"You dumped me on the bed!" I protested, but reluctantly got up and sat on the chair.

"I got onto the chair," I said. "What?"

Whatever Thalia was about to say, I didn't get to hear it. There was an earnest knock on the door, and Jenny burst in. "It's dinnertime!" she squealed.

I got up and Thalia reluctantly followed me to the dining hall.

My mouth dropped open as soon as I saw the food, and I heard Thalia mutter under her breath, "Boys are always ruled by their stomachs." But I couldn't help it.

The first course was this indescribably rich tomato soup, with crackers on the side.

"Food's good, isn't it?" Gloss inquired as I got the last spoonfuls out of the soup. I nodded. "Yeah, back home, we live on breads and cheese and fruit."

Thalia, meanwhile, hadn't even taken a single bite out of her soup. She was staring at the red liquid and mumbling something to herself.

The second course was as good, if not better than the first. Chicken in a creamy sauce with chunks of roasted and seasoned potatoes in it. Partridge on a bed of gravy and wild rice with lightly sauteed peppers. And all the while, Thalia hadn't eaten anything. She left dinner early, saying something about needing to think for a while. She left me wondering why in Hades she was so distant at the moment.


End file.
